From BDS to Expelling Jewish Students: A Durban University New Initiative

16.02.15

Editorial Note

A university in Durban, the South African city associated with the notorious Durban conference where anti-Semitic commentary, inside and outside the hall, was on full display, has made a new and even more dubious headline. Students at the Technical University of Durban want all the Jewish students, or at least those who do not agree with the Palestinians to be fired, or “deregistered.”

The decision is unprecedented and was roundly denounced by the university administration and the organization of Jewish students in South Africa.

But the case is distressing on many levels. It indicates, as many have suggested, the existence of a thin line separating the BDS movement from outright anti-Semitism. Once this line is crossed, clear anti-Semitic patterns of thought and action emerge. First, the Durban students want to expel all Jewish students – a classic ploy that holds individual Jews as responsible for the Jewish collective, in this case the State of Israel.

Also, the Durban students suggest that only those who disagree with the BDS should be expelled. The so-called “good Jews” and “bad Jews” ploy has been detailed by IAM before. In this scenario the pro-Palestinian activists are charged with identifying the “good Jews.” The criteria for selecting the “good Jews” or sometimes “the good Israeli Jews” vary. Ilan Pappe is universally considered a “good Israeli Jew” because his work accused Israel of all sort of heinous crimes, from ethnic cleansing to virtual genocide. But others, like Daniel Monterescu found out that even though he had astrong record of opposing Israeli policies in the territories, he was not considered a good enough Israeli Jews.

And there is the case of Amira Hass, normally considered a “good Israeli Jew” because of her inflammatory reporting in Haaretz.Hass was prevented from speaking at Birzeit Universitybecauseshe is Israeli and Jewish, which is indicating that rules can change and the “good Jew” is demoted to a “Jew” subject to a policy of exclusion in an academic blink of an eye.

DUT Jewish call outrage

Jewish students at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) who supported the State of Israel should be kicked out, the Students Representative Council (SRC) has demanded.

And this applies to students who are sponsored by the Israeli government. The demands, sent to the DUT management, have shocked and angered Jewish organisations.

The vice-chancellor of the university, Professor Ahmed Bawa, said the demand by the SRC and the Progressive Youth Alliance that the DUT deregister all Jewish students “is totally unacceptable”.

The Secretary of the SRC, Mqondisi Duma, said: “As the SRC, we had a meeting and analysed international politics. We took the decision that Jewish students, especially those who do not support the Palestinian struggle, should deregister.”

On Tuesday night, Natan Pollack – the national chairman of the South African Union of Jewish Students – said the suggestion was “deplorable”.

“To discriminate against people because of their religious and political standpoint goes against freedom of speech,” Pollack said.

Chairwoman of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, Durban-based Mary Kluk, said she was “appalled” and said it was unacceptable such demands could be made in an academic institution.